Majority of Kinois uninterested in National Consultations

(PHOTO 1: Kinois reading newspapers in April 2012) (PHOTO 2: Opposition MP Jean-Pierre Lisanga Bonganga) *** At midday this Monday September 16, Speaker Aubin Minaku opened this year's second session of the National Assembly in the presence of both houses convening in congress, of members of diplomatic missions accredited to Kinshasa, and of Justin Koumba--speaker of the National Assembly of Congo-Brazzaville--who also delivered a long-drawn-out...

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Kinshasa: More outrage swirls around resumption of Kampala talks with M23

(PHOTO: Lt Col Olivier Hamuli, North-Kivu FARDC spokesperson, talking to Reuters at Mutaho, near Goma, July 6, 2013) *** There's more outrage swirling around the ill-timed resumption of the Kampala talks between the DRC government and the Rwandan proxies of M23. Ill-timed because the talks being held in Kampala somehow coincide with the National Consultations in Kinshasa.  And these consultations have once more caused a political...

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Nine Eleven: Twin Sundown (Olga Vargas)

Artist: Olga Vargas Title: Twin Sundown (New York Twin Towers) Dimensions: 60WX36HMaterial: Collage on Canvas Credits: 911memorial.orgVia: olgavargasartist.com...

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DRC ranks 18 out of 44 in Africa's Happiest Countries 2013

(PHOTO: Upbeat Congolese schoolchildren in front of their school at Kasese, South-Kivu Province, in 2005) *** The UN World Happiness Report 2013 was released yesterday. And according to the Report, "The top five countries are Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Sweden, and the bottom five are Rwanda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Benin, and Togo." At rank 61, Angola is Africa's happiest country, while the DRC, ranked 18 among...

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Kinshasa: Govt scrambles to stem Kampala summit fallout as National Consultations open

PHOTO: Front row: From Left to Right: Presidents Salva Kir (South Sudan), Joseph Kabila (DRC), Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania) and Yoweri Museveni (Uganda); AU Commission Chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma; and President Paul Kagame (Rwanda). *** The worst nightmare of North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku came to pass Thursday, September 5, in Kampala, Uganda. The nightmare--in the shape of a "ceasefire," "cessations of hostilities" and continued negotiations...

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Radio-Trottoir: No ceasefire and No cessation of hostilities with M23

(PHOTO: An anti-M23 rioter in Goma on Saturday, August 24, 2013) *** The 7th extraordinary summit of the heads of state of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGRL) opens today in Kampala.  Yesterday, according to Radio Okapi, North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku made some tough comments to the press at Goma regarding the outcome of the summit. These comments echo what's being hotly debated through the grapevine of...

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Radio Trottoir: Africa's World War II has begun

(PHOTO: A son of Tanzania People's Defense Force [TPDF] Khatib Mshindo grieves by his father's casket at Lugalo Military Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, before being flown to Zanzibar for burial. Maj. Mshindo, who was with MONUSCO's Force Intervention Brigade [FIB], was slain in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the frontline in eastern DRC last week) *** Faceless anchors of Radio-Trottoir, the grapevine of Kinshasa and other DRC's urban...

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